Elena Kagan

One of the perks of being elected POTUS is that you get to choose candidates to fill Supreme Court vacancies. It gives the president the opportunity to extend his personal influence beyond his tenure. When Republicans were in power, the emphasis was always on compromising with Democrats by half. Democrats don’t compromise. They go full tilt. Republicans have accepted this paradigm for as long as I care to remember.

Kagan comes from Obama’s inner circle. She was chosen because she espouses Obama’s views. There is not much of a paper trail. This should make it easier to overlook her deficiencies and confirm her. Should something untoward emerge and she is rejected, Obama will first blame Republicans. While Republicans are still celebrating their pyrrhic obstruction skills, Obama will then double down and appoint someone even more radical. Republicans, still punch-drunk and exhausted, will give the next candidate a pass. He or she will also likely be even younger, ensuring that Obama’s quest to transform America into a socialist Utopia will survive even after the political winds have shifted.